Origin’s new album Antithesis is, to say something painfully obvious, relentless. Some songs have creepy, shimmering intros, but once the first riff erupts full force, there is no end to the onslaught of notes. The album contains all the hallmarks that speed metal fans know and love—blast beats galore, death growls and screaming, machine gun guitar picking—all stretched to the limit of technical ability. The band has achieved the awesome sound of metal machines: cold, calculated, efficient, and did I mention, relentless.
That being said, relentlessness, no matter how impressive, tends to get monotonous. An entire album of nonstop angular arpeggios and pure speed without much memorable melody or rhythmic variation leaves few landmarks for listeners to hold onto. As Antithesis ends the listener is left with ringing ears and the indescribable and admittedly great feeling of power that seems to come from very extreme music. But that is the only feeling—the surprise of technical facility has become old news by the second song, and the vast palate of emotional language available in music has been forgotten.
What I mean is, it gets boring, and the game of the album becomes “which riff (in this endless stream of riffs) is the sickest?” There are a few candidates, in my opinion—the end of “Ubiquitous” has a bouncy, jagged arpeggio sequence, followed by a great note-chug trade at the beginning of “The Beyond Within,” and the title track is full of them. But listening for the best riffs only reinforces the fact that the album lacks thematic coherency and interesting song development. None of the riffs ever return, leaving us with the feeling of spinning in a whirlpool of constantly changing, and therefore not always interesting, speed riffs.
For the reasons stated in the first paragraph, most metal listeners will be enthralled by this album—it rocks and they pull off everything they attempt. If Origin’s goal is to astound listeners with their speed and agility, as well as constant supply of crazy and creative riffs, then they have accomplished it. The question then remains if this is enough to sustain a listener’s need to explore emotional depth in music.
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Track Names
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The Aftermath
Algorithm
Consuming Misery
Wrath Of Vishnu
Finite
The Appalling
Void
Ubiquitous
The Beyond Within
Antithesis
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Artist: Album
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Origin: Antithesis
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Genre
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Metal
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More Information
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http://www.myspace.com/origin666
